Digital BW, The Print

I haven't used the R800 at all yet, but I have looked at the specs and the
interface information.  From everything I've seem it sure looks like the gloss
is treated like another ordinary ink.  I can't see anyway it would be put on
after the ink, so I think it must be put on mixed and dithered with the color
inks.  How much is used could certainly be varied depending on the
amount of color ink.  

Roy

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Steve Kale <stevekale@b...> 
wrote:
> So I asked MIS what the story was with their gloss optimizer and whether it
> was true that they were not happy with it as their website implied.  I also
> asked if they had any insight as to how it was laid down by the R800.  Here
> is their response:
> 
> "Basically you are correct, we were not satisfied with the quality of the
> gloss coating. Although it does look okay it did not meet the standards we
> are trying to achieve.
>  
> With regard to the R800, to our knowledge the system does spray an after
> coat. The system actually may use the gloss coating in various way depending
> on the paper selection. We are not that familiar with the specifics of the
> printer operation.
>  
> As for attempting to use gloss in a non gloss printer. Our experience is
> that these efforts continually fail. There are just simply too many
> variables that effect the use of gloss, and trying to use it a printer which
> it is not designed for is very difficult."
> 
> With respect to the first paragraph, I admire their honesty. The second is a
> little contradictory.  I am not sure that the third is correct given we
> don't seem to have clarity in the second.
> 
> 
> 
> > From: "Paul D. DeRocco" <pderocco@i...>
> > Reply-To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
> > Date: Tue, 30 Nov 2004 09:49:52 -0800
> > To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
> > Subject: RE: [Digital BW] QTR and Gloss Optimizer
> > 
> > 
> >> From: Steve Kale [mailto:stevekale@b...]
> >> 
> >> Well I think the place to start is to better understand how the R800
> >> actually works, ie Epson's intentions.  Is the gloss woven into the dither
> >> or does it follow the ink lay down like a spray (in the way the
> >> last set of
> >> dots follows all the rest)?  Is it laid down evenly regardless of
> >> the amount
> >> of ink (ie does a 100% patch receive the same amount of gloss as
> >> 0% patch)?
> >> And yes there is no reason for the original print to be printed
> >> on an R800.
> > 
> > I don't know where the Epson printers lay down GLOP: on top of only the
> > black ink, on top of the other ink, or in the spaces between the ink. I
> > would guess the latter, and one might be able to tell by watching the GLOP
> > level on a light print versus a dark print. But it seems clear that it
> > doesn't lay it down everywhere, or the GLOP cart would probably be quite a
> > bit bigger. However, since GLOP doesn't have a color, it's probably harmless
> > to the image quality to lay it down everywhere, the excess merely being
> > wasted.
> > 
> > Another question is whether one should wait for the original print to dry
> > thoroughly before using a separate pass (or separate printer) to lay down
> > any overcoating. The glycols in Epson inks take several days to outgas, and
> > I don't know if extra GLOP would just lengthen this a little, or
> > fundamentally upset the drying process. I expect the GLOP may just be the
> > same ink carrier without pigment.
> > 
> > --
> > 
> > Ciao,               Paul D. DeRocco
> > Paul                mailto:pderocco@i...